I haven’t heard any official pronouncements on this, but I saw soldiers with automatic weapons standing at key checkpoints on Wednesday.
I had not seen an actual gun — aside from the competitors at the shooting venue — until then. Which really is quite remarkable, considering how well (and patently obvious) soldiers with guns were at the last three Olympics.
What’s going on?
I’m not sure. But there must be a sense of more threat.
Besides the guys with automatic rifles, I also saw soliders at the mag-and-bag security station at my hotel, this morning. I hadn’t seen them before, either.
I mean, we assume X number of all guys working at security checkpoints actually are soldiers. But they weren’t dressed as such, until the past 24 hours.
Actually, the security had been stunningly out of sight, till now. Most of the mag-and-bags seem to be run by crews that were at least half made up of college-age girls.
Now, we’re seeing older, tougher guys … and they’re packing heat.
Must be some perceived threat that didn’t exist before.
I liked the No-gun Games. Too bad they’re over.
1 response so far ↓
1 Joseph D'Hippolito // Aug 14, 2008 at 12:21 PM
Either the authorities got tipped off about a terrorist threat, or they’re trying to intimidate people into “behaving” (i.e., no anti-government demonstrations and no media investigations) . I’m betting on the latter.
Do you know if your hotel is strictly a media hotel or does it also accomodate foreign visitors who aren’t reporters?
Paul, I suggest you get a copy of a book called “The Nazi Olympics,” about the 1936 Winter and Summer Games. It was written by an American professor. It’s not the most well-written thing I’ve ever read but it provides some good insight into how a totaitarian regime attempts to manage its image. I think you’d enjoy it.
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